USA Today MLB insider Bob Nightengale reported on Tuesday that Angels two-way superstar and pending free agent Shohei Ohtani has undergone elbow surgery and will not be available to pitch again until at least 2025. He will only be able to play DH in the 2024 MLB season.
Many said that Shohei Ohtani could sign a $700 million contract prior to his recent injuries. It seems likely most teams won't want to commit to him to that degree, as seen recently in Carlos Correa, where the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets both gave him a contract offer but then refused to sign him after finding out how injury-prone he could be.
So with this latest injury, which teams could back off of Ohtani? Don't be surprised if these three teams get proverbial cold feet when it comes free agency time.
Teams that may pass on Shohei Ohtani: New York Yankees
The New York Yankees need to commit to signing multiple players in the near future, while also not having room currently for Shohei Ohtani if he's not going to be on the mound for the club.
With Ohtani not pitching in 2024, they can't have him on the roster because they currently have DH Giancarlo Stanton, whom they are committed to for at least four more seasons with a club option for a fifth season. Yes, there is an argument to be made for "you sign Ohtani and make room", but the truth of the matter is that the Yankees aren't in that position with Stanton.
The Yankees are one of the top landing spots for another Japanese pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who holds much more substantial upside than Shohei Ohtani, who might never pitch again and would only be able to hit.
Teams that may pass on Shohei Ohtani: New York Mets
The New York Mets are another team, like the Yankees, who may not want to pursue Ohtani this offseason due to his injury. The Mets need to fill many spots this offseason, including grabbing multiple starting pitchers and several arms to fill out the bullpen. They seem likely to instead choose to pursue Yamamoto this offseason, who they've been linked to multiple times already.
The problem is, unless he can remain a healthy two-way player, Shohei Ohtani isn't worth signing long-term, even for Steve Cohen and his deep checkbook. While he is one of the best hitters in baseball, he is only worth $30-40 million without the pitching upside.
On top of that, if Ohtani is, in fact, done as a pitcher, that might necessitate moving him to the outfield upon his recovery from this UCL injury. The DH is less valuable from a contract standpoint in MLB, so a team could ask for him to affect games defensively, even if he can't take the mound.
The Mets have been showing they are committed to winning, but after trading Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, they now plan to build within the organization instead of signing the biggest free agents. They could still sign many top free agents, but Ohtani might be too rich of a gamble for them to take.
Teams that may pass on Shohei Ohtani: Los Angeles Angels
Finally, it seems likely the Los Angeles Angels want to rebuild instead of spending big money on players. They currently have a bad contract they have to deal with in regards to Anthony Rendon, who they owe $38 million per year for the next three seasons.
The Angels also have been starting to consider a Mike Trout trade, something new in the possible forecast for the organization. It's a move that would send one of baseball's best to a likely contender, but one that would save LA substantial payroll and free them of dealing with recent injury issues.
With that consideration, though it seems unlikely they would be willing to spend money on Shohei Ohtani, who could demand a ton of money while also only wanting to play for a contender, which the Angels aren't in their current state.
In recent seasons, the Angels have realized that having one or two of the best players in baseball won't lead to making the playoffs. It seems likely they too, like many teams, would start to build within instead of spending massive sums on players who haven't worked out, as seen with how Albert Pujols and Rendon worked in addition to a number of others.
